Supreme Court reduces sentence of 'Algarve serial killer' from 22 to 16 years for manslaughter
The Supreme Court of Justice reduced the sentence of Kenny, accused of the death of a Brazilian woman in the Algarve in 2022, on grounds that the requirements for aggravated homicide were not proven.
Supreme Court rules out aggravated homicide and reduces Kenny's sentence to 16 years
The Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) reduced on Thursday, 5 November, from 22 to 16 years the prison sentence imposed on "Kenny", known as the "Algarve serial killer", convicted of the death of a Brazilian citizen in December 2022, in the Algarve, according to a report by dn.pt.
The sentence is now fixed at 14 years for manslaughter and 2 years for the remaining crimes charged against the defendant.
The first-instance court had established, in cumulative sentences, a total prison sentence of 25 years — 22 of them for homicide. The Court of Appeal of Évora had previously intervened to reduce that conviction to 22 years, of which 21 for the crime of homicide.
The STJ went further now, finding it impossible to convict the defendant of aggravated homicide. According to the statement sent to the press, the court considered that "no elements emerge from the proven facts as to when, how and in what manner the crime was committed". The judgment adds that, even considering together circumstances such as prior knowledge of the victim, her youth and foreign nationality, engagement in prostitution, the defendant's physical superiority and the fact that the events occurred at night in an isolated location, these circumstances "are not sufficient to constitute the particular censurability or depravity required for the crime of aggravated homicide, as doctrine and the Constitutional Court emphasise".
The STJ therefore opted for conviction on the charge of manslaughter, "whose sentencing range is lower", which justified the reduction in the overall sentence from 22 to 16 years in prison.
Source: SIC Notícias